1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to magnetic cores for electrical inductive apparatus such as transformers and reactors, and more specifically to magnetic cores containing an amorphous metal, and methods of consolidating such cores.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of amorphous metal in the magnetic core of electrical inductive apparatus is desirable when core losses are important, as the core losses in amorphous metal cores are substantially lower than with regular grain oriented electrical steel. Magnetic cores wound from a strip of amorphous metal, however, are not self-supporting, and will collapse if not otherwise supported if the male portion of the winding mandrel is removed from the core window. If an amorphous core is not operated in the as-wound configuration, the core losses increase. Amorphous metal is also very brittle, especially after anneal, which is required to optimize the magnetic characteristics of the core. Care must be taken to prevent slivers and flakes of amorphous metal from being carried by the liquid coolant of the associated electrical inductive apparatus to areas of high electrical stress.
Thus, it would be desirable to economically consolidate such cores, making them dimensionally stable as well as enabling them to be handled during assembly, and to operate in their intended environment with associated electrical windings, without significantly increasing the core losses. It would also be desirable to economically prevent chipping of the core during handling and assembly, as well as during operation, to ensure that core particles are not liberated into the coolant stream of the apparatus. These objectives should be achieved without resorting to box-like core enclosures, costly molds, and the like, as the multiplicity of core sizes make such "solutions" forbiddenly expensive.